Theater review by Raven Snook
Gavin Creel's many charms are exhibited well in Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice, his heartfelt new song cycle about the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Creel’s splendid tenor and easygoing wit have made him a busy Broadway leading man for decades. This concert-style show finds him singing and songwriting in a different and more reflective mode: It’s art about the art of appreciating art.
Although the narrative touches lightly on his early and midlife crises—his gay childhood in a religious environment, his isolation during the pandemic, a failed romance—this show is no confessional. Backed by an exuberant four-member band, which he sometimes joins on piano or harmonium, Creel shares what his many visits to the Met have taught him about the creations on display and, more movingly, about himself. David Bengali's projections conjure works that Creel responds to: the chiseled Greek and Roman statues that fire up his lust, the kinetic Jackson Pollock chaos that appeals to his disorderly brain, the cacophonous Joan Snyder colors that capture his imagination. His 17 accomplished original songs, infused with catchy pop and gospel, celebrate the power of art to interrogate, inspire and connect; no wonder the museum commissioned him to write them.
Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice | Photograph: Courtesy Joan Marcus
While Walk on Through is occasionally self-indulgent, it's more often endearing, funny and relatable, and makes you yearn for a cast recording. And it's not all about Creel: Ryan Vasquez and his powerhouse vocals are shown off in a series of small roles, including a wry Pollock and the brooding Russian author Vsevolod Garshin; in a stirring if incongruous number, Sasha Allen blows the roof off the joint as the triumphant subject of Lucas Cranach the Elder's Judith with the Head of Holofernes. Dramatic lighting by Jiyoun Chang and fabulous orchestrations by the band help elevate the show beyond cabaret.
As a longtime fan of Creel’s, I admit that I was sold on Walk on Through before I walked through the door. But this engaging and insightful performance will surely earn him new admirers. It's a joy to behold fine art through his eyes. If you don’t know Creel already, you’ll leave happy to have met.
MCC Theater (Off Broadway). Written and performed by Gavin Creel. Directed by Linda Goodrich. Running time: 1hr 45mins. No intermission.
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Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice | Photograph: Courtesy Joan Marcus